


Sleep

by geekdie



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Fluff, Immortal Fake AH Crew, M/M, Partial Mind Control, it's not but ray thinks it is does that count, kind of?????
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-25
Updated: 2019-03-25
Packaged: 2019-12-07 04:51:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18230159
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/geekdie/pseuds/geekdie
Summary: a drink for the horror that i'm infor the good guys and the bad guysfor the monsters that i've beenryan seems to have a capability that ray's never noticed before.





	Sleep

Ryan has two kinds of laughs.

The first kind is normal. It’s the laugh that comes out when he’s surprised but amused. It’s the laugh that comes out when Ray makes a stupid joke. It’s deep, and comes from his chest, and it’s beautiful, but it’s not like his other laugh. It’s a laugh you’d expect from the man Ray sees on his sheets laying back against the pillows with an easy smile, hair down as he waits for his partner to join him in bed. It’s a laugh you’d expect from _Ryan._

Then there’s the other kind. The kind of laugh you’d expect from _Vagabond._ The laugh you’d expect from a man wearing stylized skull facepaint with a gun in his hand as he hangs off the side of a car shooting at the police. That laugh is dark, and dangerous, and sends chills down Ray’s spine. It’s a laugh that says the scent of blood is in the air and he’s the predator closing in on you. It’s a laugh full of teeth and quivering flesh. It’s a laugh that says _pick a god and pray._

It’s the second laugh that gets Ray’s attention while he’s sitting on Ryan’s couch, decompressing after their most recent heist. He must be feeling cocky after how well he did; he’s got a huge smirk on his face and his head is tilted as he strides toward Ray. He stops just under one of the lights and laughs again.

His eyes are glowing. They’ve never done that before. Ray can’t stop staring. They’re piercing, normally, but they’re not usually this bright and… transfixing.

“Come here, my rose,” he says with open arms, and Ray obeys without a second thought. Ryan pulls him close—god, he’s fantastic at hugs—but Ray’s mind is still reeling. Was that real? It feels real in his bones, but he could have just imagined it, just been projecting because he wishes it were true.

He trusts Ryan so, so much, and so often he finds himself wishing he could give more of himself to the Vagabond.

Maybe it’s a sign.

 

This heist was tense.

Ray flops down on Ryan’s bed, his body a network of tension rippling just under his skin. Ray Narvaez Jr. no longer exists; his physical vessel is now the residence of a being of pure stress. He feels like he can barely breathe, even though the heist ended half an hour ago and he’s been riding behind Ryan on his own bike—not able to drive, Ryan noticed he was too keyed up to handle it. This isn’t usually a problem, Ray’s usually able to keep his cool completely, and most of the time the worst that could happen is that they die and come back tomorrow.

But this time, an unexpected third party got involved. One that Ray knows is aware of their immortality. One that almost tried to make off with half the crew, drugging and cuffing the Gents and trying to shove them into a limo and drive off.

Ray blew the driver’s brains out and then started having a panic attack on the roof.

Michael and Gavin got everyone out and got the money, no harm done in the end. Ryan recovered faster than Ray did, so Gavin and Michael took Jack and Geoff back to the penthouse, and Ryan took Ray back to his apartment. Ryan’s in the bathroom now, scrubbing down his face with makeup remover, as Ray tries to just _breathe._

The door closes. Ray glances up, turning his head to the side to see Ryan, his face cleared and shoulders loose. It seems the heist didn’t bother him as much as it did Ray. He sits down on the bed, threads his fingers through Ray’s hair and ruffles it just a little. “You doing okay?” he asks, and Ray looks down, a silent _not really._ “Do you want me to help you unwind?”

“I’m not really in the mood for anything saucy at the moment,” Ray says with a sigh, and Ryan barks out a short laugh.

“No, I mean like giving you a back rub or something, I know you like that.”

Ray does like that. “Oh, yeah, sure.” He sits up briefly, pulls off his hoodie and undershirt in one fell swoop, and falls back onto the sheets. God, they’re so soft. Ryan straddles his back, runs his hands over Ray’s skin. God, that feels good. Ryan’s hands are pretty rough, and Ray adores the way they feel on him. He starts to apply gentle pressure, his hands moving so, so slowly across Ray’s back. Ray lets out a long sigh and closes his eyes, quietly taking in the moment and enjoying Ryan’s touch. Ryan presses in on those tense spots, seeming to know exactly where they are and how to circle them with his fingertips to make Ray melt, completely relaxed, under his hands. He always knows just how to touch Ray in order to make him unwind.

Enough, in fact, for him to drift off.

He dreams that Ryan is talking to him.

He’s so relaxed and out of it that everything Ryan says sounds like a fantastic idea. Ryan talks about how good it would feel to sink down further, to just focus on his voice, and it does feel good, it feels fantastic. He says there’s a special signal that Ray won’t register that will make Ray think Ryan’s eyes are glowing bright blue, and that when that happens, he won’t remember how to disobey. It’s the best idea Ray has ever heard. Ryan says other things, but Ray is drifting too much to understand them. He just feels good under Ryan’s hands. Under Ryan’s power.

“Ray?”

Ray awakes with a start. “Ah, shit, I must have fallen asleep, I’m sorry. Were you trying to talk to me?” His glasses aren’t on, so he sinks back down and closes his eyes again. Ryan must have taken them off once he drifted off.

“I just wanted to ask if it was helping you relax,” he says. “Are you feeling okay?”

“Yeah,” and he reaches up to wipe the sleep from his eyes. “Where are my glasses?”

“I, uh, I took them off because they looked uncomfortable. I asked you if that was okay and you said yes, do you not remember that?”

Ray shakes his head just a little. “Your voice is… really soothing. Feel like I’d probably agree to anything you said while I felt like that.”

“Hm,” Ryan says, sounding interested.

“Speaking of which. Have you… done anything like that? Told me to believe something while I was like that, I guess. It’s okay if you have, I trust you, I just want to know.”

“No, I never really thought about it.” Ryan is still idly running his hands over Ray’s back, like he can’t get enough of the contact. “You know more about that than I do.”

Ray nods. “Fair play. Had a dream about it just now.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, you… Made me think I had to listen to you when you made a certain signal. You fuckin’… made me think your eyes were glowing when you did it, so it’s good to know you’re an over the top piece of shit even in my dreams.”

Ryan laughs, a light little thing as he leans down closer to Ray. “I wonder where that came from.”

“There was a while back when you stood under a light in the living room and you looked like your eyes were glowing,” Ray admits. “I… kind of have a thing for that, conceptually, so I guess I psychologically played myself and made myself think I had to listen to you because of it. And I guess my brain wanted to come up with a reason for it, I don’t know.”

“Hm,” Ryan says again, and he gets up right next to Ray’s ear. “That does explain a lot. But if you think it’s attractive, I’m more than happy to play along.” He starts scratching Ray’s head, ever so gentle, and it feels like his brain just shuts off when Ryan does that. “And, I mean, if you want to, you can forget we had this conversation. If it would help your immersion.”

Ray thinks, _it_ would _help my immersion,_ and he relaxes into Ryan’s touch, and he lets himself go and focus on the tactile, and slowly, slowly the memory slips away from him.

 

He’s up late again.

Ray has nightmares often. These days they’re usually about the rest of the crew losing their immortality. Ray’s scared to fucking death of losing them. When he has one, he just plays video games until he can sleep again.

“Ray, what are you doing still up?” Ryan is rubbing at his eyes with the heel of his palm.

“Not tired,” Ray says, and the anxiety has him so keyed up that it’s technically not a lie. “Can’t fall asleep.”

“You’ve gone through your usual routine?” Ray shrugs. “Ray. You have a bunch of things to help you with this. Have you taken your meds?”

“Yeah.”

“And breathing exercises?”

“Yeah. I just can’t relax, I’m not tired, I don’t know.”

Ryan takes a step forward. “Come over here a second, let me try something.”

Ray saves his game and turns off his 3DS, laying it down on the coffee table, then goes over to Ryan. “What—“ Ray looks up at Ryan.

His eyes are glowing bright, beautiful blue.

“It’s time to sleep, Ray,” he says.

Ray tries to argue as Ryan pulls him close, but can’t stop himself from hugging Ryan back and basking in his warmth and steady heartbeat. “No, Ryan, I’m not… I’m not tired… I…” He yawns, suddenly having trouble keeping his eyes open. “I can’t… sleep…”

He drifts off in Ryan’s arms, safe and sleepy, the glowing eyes printed on the backs of his eyelids.


End file.
